/ world today news/ Acting director Viktor Stoyanov fired the conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic, Iliya Mihailov, after an interview in “Voices”. Mihailov talked about the conflict that is brewing in this well-established cultural institution, after the appointment of the new chief Stoyanov.
Today Mihailov goes to work and finds the rehearsal hall empty, after which an employee from “Human Resources” hands him the dismissal order. “Both the notice and the order were handed to me in bulk without meeting and speaking to the principal. I’m sure things escalated after the Voices interview, and then I spoke about the issue to other media as well. Stoyanov didn’t even wait for the contract to expire at the end of the month and found a way to remove me. He solved things according to Stalin’s scheme – there is a person – there is a problem, there is no person – there is no problem”, commented Mihailov.
In music circles, there is persistent talk of a corruption scheme, according to which a percentage of the ticket subsidy is collected, and the Deputy Minister of Culture Boyle Banov, who was also a Deputy Minister in the caretaker government, was also involved in it. Mikhailov also said that he is also convinced of her, but he cannot prove it.
In the interview for “Voices”, he described the scheme in question as follows: For example, a businessman, through a ring of companies, buys an average of 600 tickets for 8 leva each for the philharmonic or choir concerts, which makes 4,800 leva. These tickets are reported as sold by the Philharmonic and for them the Ministry of Culture receives the state subsidy of BGN 42, or a total of BGN 25,200. In this way, money is provided for salaries and expenses. After that, they return to one of the companies in the ring and account for up to 20%, or BGN 5,000 in the form of services – consulting, PR, posters, flyers, etc. Does he return something from this BGN 5,000 to the director or the deputy? the headmistress, we don’t know, but it seems logical to assume. The result is that on paper, as in front of the ministry, everything looks perfect, and we sing in front of empty halls. This scheme can easily be rotated about 7-8 to 10 times a month.
Iliya Mihailov also accused the current director of the Philharmonic of incompetence. Stoyanov has modest experience in the music industry – he graduated in pedagogy and made music for electronic games.
In contrast, Iliya Mihailov has an impressive biography as a choir and orchestra conductor. He graduated from the Juilliard School in New York (USA), the Lausanne and Geneva Conservatories (Switzerland). Master of Symphonic Conducting from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London (UK). He is a graduate of Academician Vasil Kazandzhiev, Rosen Milanov and Michel Corbo. He worked with world-famous conductors.
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